While her childhood peers grappled with the common cold or the stomach flu, Elizabeth Rogers, 18, dealt with hours of daily medical treatments in an effort to quell her symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis, a disease she was diagnosed with at the age of 21 months.

   “Growing up with Cystic Fibrosis made me markedly different from the other children, and many of them recognized that,” Rogers said.  “Though I had plenty of friends, I had an equal amount of people that simply didn’t want to associate with me out of fear I would be contagious.”

   Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic, chronic disease that impacts about 30,000 children and adults in the United States.  The illness, brought on by a defective gene and the protein it produces, causes blockage in the lungs and hindrance of the pancreas’ functioning.  As a result, those living with CF can suffer potentially fatal lung infections and an inability to make the natural enzymes that help the body to break down and absorb nutrients from food.  In addition, the average lifespan for a person with CF is around 30 to 40 years of age.

   Although Rogers has a moderate case of CF, she usually wears a therapy vest that shakes her to dislodge excess mucus.  She also takes multiple inhalant nebulizer medications that help her breath and various pills meant to assist in the absorption of nutrients from the food she consumes.  Every few years, she visits the hospital in order to receive a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter line, a tube that carries Intravenous antibiotics from the major artery in her arm to her lungs.  Rogers was last in the hospital three years ago and will be going back for treatment this August.

   Because of her illness, Rogers says that in elementary school her classmates often deemed her “weird or always sick”.  Such reactions caused her to lose self-confidence and to view her diagnosis as a stigma.

   “The hardest part of dealing with CF is simply the recognition that it is a part of my life, and as much as I want to deny it, I can’t,” Rogers said.  “I went through a period when I was rebellious and didn’t want to do my daily medical treatments, and while that has passed, thankfully, it is still hard to believe at times.”

   Rogers attributes her ability to cope with CF to her strong support system.

   “When I was in the hospital three years ago, my parents would alternate staying by my side literally all day,” she said.  “They would be there when I woke up, and would only leave when I fell asleep. I also have amazingly supportive friends, who talked to me on the phone a great deal and visited me when possible. I also have, as dorky as it sounds, my pets, who give me the unconditional love that only animals seem to be able to give, and let me cry on their fur and their feathers, respectively.”

   Despite the fact that CF has created difficulties for Rogers, she, like many other students her age, will begin college this fall.  She will be attending the University of California, Santa Barbara and plans to major in biology and zoology.

   “ I want to start fresh in college,” Rogers said.  “I spent so much time being negative and feeling bad for myself during high school, and I realized that was a mistake far too late. In college, I really want to live life to the fullest, and celebrate each day with people I love and who love me in return.”